Labor Union membership in the United States has fallen steadily since the 1960s, to 11
percent, its lowest point in 98 years.
So, what are labor unions?
And are they still useful?
Well, American labor unions took off during the Industrial Revolution.
The Civil War decimated rural Southern economy, driving many young people to urban industrial
jobs.
Labor Unions formed to unite workers, so that they had some bargaining power about wages
and work conditions.
Historically, manual laborers were paid low wages, and then cast aside once they could
no longer work.
However, when union membership exploded in the late 1930s, laborers were able to demand
better treatment.
Since then, many companies have been forced to strike a delicate balance between their
relentless pursuit of profits and appeasing the unions.
Today, with so few American workers belonging to a union, many argue that they should be
done away with altogether.
A 2008 report by the Heritage Foundation think tank argues that unions are obsessed with
equal treatment of workers - to a point where individual merit is nullified, and promotions
are only based on seniority.
The report also points out that many of the repetitive manufacturing jobs of yesteryear
are now performed by machines.
Modern jobs aren’t as suitable for unions.
On the other hand, the Economic Policy Institute reports in 2012, that the decline of union
membership is allowing employers to undercut low- and middle-wage workers.
Their increasingly limited access to good jobs and economic security contributes to
the growing gap between the rich and poor in America.
So how much power do existing labor unions have?
Well, corporations have all but eliminated private sector unions (6.6% rate).
However, public sector jobs still have a 35% membership on average - especially workers
in education, training and library services.
A 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics report identifies a pay-gap of nearly 4 dollars per hour between
union and nonunion workers - which is over 7,000 dollars more per year.
Unions also have more access to employer healthcare and insurance benefits.
For the workplaces that do have unions, members continue to benefit from higher wages and
job security than their nonunion counterparts - so they are still very useful in America.
However, Labor Unions’ constant decline in popularity calls into question the future
of organized labor.
The debate on the ultimate merits and necessity of American labor unions rages on.
Learn more about American economy by checking out this video here!
And click to subscribe to TestTube Daily!